Anthony Martin

Anthony L. (Tony) Martin has over 35 years of litigation experience. He is a life¬long Illinois resident who now lives in Madison County after living in St. Clair County most of his legal career.

Before attending law school, Tony worked for the IRS in addition to serving as a drill sergeant (85th Div., USAR). Tony met his wife, Nancy, at Harding College. Their two children are Harding University graduates.

Tony concentrates his practice in the areas of insurance law (primarily coverage and bad faith cases) and product liability and class action litigation. He represents a diverse clientele varied in size and type of industry, which are local, regional, national and international. He has been able to resolve legal disputes and litigation through mediation, arbitration and trial. Tony has successfully litigated cases throughout central and southern Illinois, particularly Madison and St. Clair Counties, and Missouri, primarily St. Louis City and County, and the federal courts in southern Illinois and eastern and western Missouri. He has mediated and arbitrated many cases, and is also a trained mediator and arbitrator.

Tony began his insurance law practice upon law school graduation. Even before graduation, he worked as a law clerk for a law firm which allowed him to work on some cutting edge insurance law issues. Since then, he has been continuously involved in insurance coverage and bad faith cases. In addition to his litigation practice, he regularly prepares papers and makes seminar presentations on insurance coverage and bad faith issues locally, regionally and nationally. Tony regularly adds to the firm’s bad faith blog.

Tony’s class action experience dates back to the 1980s. He has been involved in the defense of class action cases in Illinois, Missouri and Kansas, as well as federal court MDLs. The clients represented include individuals, small businesses and major national and international corporations. He frequently finds himself representing clients in class action litigation in some of the most difficult venues in Missouri and Illinois, including Madison and St. Clair Counties. When his clients want to settle early, he assists them in doing so. However, if they prefer a full scale defense, Tony and his colleagues at Sandberg Phoenix continue the fight.

Successes

Confidential Resolutions: Tony has either led, or been a part of, teams of attorneys who have participated in the resolution of high exposure cases on behalf of his clients in state and federal courts in Illinois and in Missouri, often in cases where the parties had entered into agreements for consent judgments or roll-over agreements before Tony and his Sandberg Phoenix colleagues were contacted and asked to assist with the ultimate case resolution. Quite often the amounts of those resolutions are confidential and, in some cases, the parties are also confidential.

American Family Mutual Insurance Company v. Vein Centers for Excellence, Inc. and St. Louis Heart Center, Inc.: The 8th Circuit ruled in favor of American Family on January 3, 2019 (No. 17-3266). The court first held that the district court properly found it had subject matter jurisdiction; the amount in controversy between American Family and its named insured, Vein Centers, was in the millions of dollars, easily eclipsing the $75,000 threshold. In addition, the unanimous court affirmed Judge Hamilton’s ruling that the TCPA exclusion had been timely added to the business owners policies, barring coverage for the TCPA claim asserted in the underlying class action case. Steve Murphy assisted Tony in obtaining summary judgment and preparing the appellate brief. Tony argued the appeal in September 2018.

Norwood-Redfield Apartments Limited Partnership v. American Family Mutual Insurance Company: Plaintiff appealed to the 8th Cir. following the June 2018 defense verdict in a case Tony tried before Judge Fleissig (8th Cir., No. 18-2618). This first-party fire damage case was filed because Plaintiff and its public adjuster contended Plaintiff was entitled to recover substantially more than the nearly $3 million paid during the claims process for the damage to three apartment buildings in the 32 building apartment complex. Meghan Lewis worked with Tony to obtain a partial summary judgment which reduced American Family’s exposure by nearly $30 million. The appellate briefing is complete with Plaintiff arguing that the Missouri valued policy law entitles Plaintiff to recover that $30 million as a matter of law.

Hale, et al. v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, et al.: Tony led the team of
Sandberg Phoenix lawyers who obtained the dismissal of Citizens for Karmeier, one of the defendants in this multi-billion dollar civil RICO case in the Southern District of Illinois.

East Washington Chiropractic, et al. v. American Family Mutual Insurance Company: This multi¬state Madison County, Illinois med pay case filed in 2000 was settled on a class wide basis. The last of the three judges to handle the case granted final approval of that class action settlement about 14 years after the case was filed.

Smith-Silk, et al. v. Prenzler, et al.: Tony headed the litigation team for the Madison County
defendants which led to the entry of judgment in their favor before there was a ruling on the class certification motion. This judgment was reaffirmed upon appeal.

Jamon Davis v. Mulch, et al.: Tony was appointed as counsel for the plaintiff in this section
1983 litigation, which led to a favorable settlement for his client, a Cook County detainee, transferred temporarily to Southern Illinois from the maximum security unit in the Cook County Jail.

Madison Mutual Insurance Company v. Williams, et al.:Madison Mutual filed this declaratory judgment action against its insured, whom was alleged to have been responsible for the explosion at her house. The property of numerous neighbors was also damaged leading to subrogation claims in excess of $1,000,000. Those subrogation claims were withdrawn in exchange for dismissals against those subrogating insurance carriers and Madison Mutual prevailed against the insured and her mortgagee.

Sisters of Mercy Health System v. Johnson, et al.: This declaratory judgment action was filed by the hospital system against a former employee and all interested parties regarding the alleged surreptitious video-taping of minor females. The court entered judgment in favor of Sisters of Mercy Health on the Pool Document (similar to an insurance policy) declaring that there was no duty to indemnify or defend the former trainer.

McKinzie v. Clubbs: This case involved a prisoner’s allegations of excessive force by a prison guard. The case was tried before Senior District Judge Stohr in the Eastern District of Missouri. The jury’s verdict was for the defendant prison guard.

Massey v. Shelter Life Insurance Company: This multi-state class action case, after multiple transfers between federal and state courts in Missouri and Kansas, resulted in a class wide CAFA settlement. At issue was the amount of charges to insureds for the insurance and investment components of this variable life insurance product.

Schuppert, et al. v. Down: This high publicity, high exposure, Madison County class action case was ultimately settled and the settlement approved by the second state court judge to whom the case was assigned. The Canadian national defendant allegedly violated U.S. law by gaming activities advertised in the U.S., but operated outside the country.

Hicks v. Boston Scientific Corp.: This product liability medical device case was tried in the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. The jury returned a verdict for defendant.

Fritzsche v. Union Pacific Railroad Co.: Madison County, Illinois was the venue of this wrongful death railroad crossing case. The lengthy trial resulted in a net verdict to plaintiff in excess of $3 million.

Morrissey v. Morrissey: A seriously injured mother sued her son in this automobile negligence case defended in St. Louis County. The plaintiff settled with the obviously liable co-defendant before trial. The jury returned a verdict for defendant. This case was listed by Missouri Lawyers Weekly as one of the top ten defense verdicts for the year.

Husch v. Fire Insurance Exchange: This arson fire/insurance fraud case was tried in the U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The plaintiff’s wife’s body was found in the home after the fire. Although the plaintiff had been charged with her murder, the criminal case had not gone to trial. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendant insurance company.

Fust v. Francois: Malicious prosecution was the theory of this case tried in St. Louis County, by homeowners against a real estate developer. The Fusts sued after Francois dismissed his suit against them. The jury returned a verdict for over $2.5 million, which was then remitted to $1.1 million.

Jones v. Porter Oil: This product liability case was tried for three weeks in the City of St. Louis against a kerosene heater manufacturer and the distributors of the kerosene fuel. The manufacturer settled for several million dollars. The jury returned a verdict for the severely burned minor plaintiff for $25 million.

Boivin v. Clark: The pharmacist plaintiff and her husband pursued this serious injury truck/auto accident case in U. S. District Court in St. Louis. The jury returned verdicts in favor of all defendants.

Bean v. Missouri Pacific Railroad Co.: The family of the deceased railroad engineer brought this wrongful death/FELA/railroad crossing accident case in which there were two deaths. The case was tried in Madison County, Illinois. The co-defendant, Goldmine Farms, agreed to a structured settlement for more than $1 million. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendant railroad.

Mitchell v. Hackler: Springfield, Illinois was the venue for this architectural malpractice case brought by a seriously injured minor plaintiff. The two co-defendants settled before trial. The Sangamon County jury returned a defense verdict in favor of the architect.

“Missouri and Illinois Insurance Coverage Disputes: Some Important Rules,” The Lawyers Association of St. Louis and USA&M CLE Program

“Insurance Coverage and Extra-Contractual Liability Disputes, Consent Judgments: Strategies in Bad Faith Claims Given the Use of Consent Judgments to Box in Primary and Excess Carriers,” American Conference Institute

“State of the Market for High-Profile Bad Faith Cases and High Dollar Verdicts,” American Conference Institute, Extra-Contractual and Bad Faith Liability Conference